Written by Philip Roy | 07 June 2003
Posted in Site News

Terms of Entry

The contest is now closed

To see an example of tips you could enter, click here

• A maximum of three tips can be entered and must be entered at the same time.
• Only one entry (a maximum of three tips in that entry) can be submitted per person/address/email address. Any entries that are suspected to come from someone who has entered already (or using a similar address) will be declared null and void.
• Entries must be received by midnight on June 7th, 2003. Winners will be announced on the site as soon as possible after that date.
• Each tip is to be no more than 100 words in length and may include up to 2 screen shots/images/animated gifs (no other multimedia accepted) as attachments. Entries should be submitted via the form on the next page, or as email with attachments (see next page for email address). Images should not be reduced in size or quality, but should be cropped to remove unwanted parts. You may be asked to resubmit better images, but this will not affect your chances of winning.
• Tips will be uploaded to the site as quickly as possible with the name of the entrant noted.
• If a tip appears with someone else's name, it implies that your version of the tip was received after this persons. You may not submit an alternative tip.
• If one of your tips does not appear, it implies that an editorial decision/judgment has been made that that tip is not significant enough to be posted. You may not submit an alternative tip.
• Images/animations are submitted to enhance your explanation. While not compulsory, if they can improve your explanation then it is recommended you include them. If an image does not enhance your explanation, please do not include them.
• Tips must relate to using the Mac OS X Operating System, Microsoft Office X or any application developed by Apple Computers or Microsoft that works under Mac OS X (not in the 'Classic environment'). Tips for other programs will not be accepted.
• Entries will be judged using the following criteria:
  • Wording - How well written the tip is
  • Helpfulness - How much help the tip is going to be of use to Mac OS X users
  • Uniqueness/Wow Factor - How impressive and helpful the tip is or if it is one that is rarely heard about.
  • Relevance of image - If included, the image/animation will form part of the overall judgment of the tip
• This contest is only open to people resident in New Zealand. Entrants are required to provide a physical address, as well as an email address. No information will be retained after the contest, other than the winner's details being used to forward the software to that person.
• Submissions must be entirely your own work and must not breach copyright or intellectual property right in any way. NZMac.com will endeavour to check that your entry has not been duplicated from other sites, but ultimate responsibility lies with the entrant.
• By your submission you grant NZMac.com the right to make publicly available the submitted content as they see fit (such as posted on the web site), whilst you retain ownership and responsibility for the text. Your name will be included next to the tip, but email addresses will not be listed.
• Email addresses of entrants will not be kept after the contest has closed.
• Submitting your content does not guarantee that it will be posted on the NZMac.com site.
• We reserve the right to reject any submission without explanation.
• We reserve the right to edit your submission.
• Posting of the tips to the site gives no indication as to whether an entry will be successful in winning the competition.
• The Judges for the contest are Philip Roy (NZMac.com) and Paula Bennett (Microsoft New Zealand).
• The judges decisions with regard to the winning entry is final and discussion will not be entered in to.
• The prize is not exchangeable for cash.

The contest is now closed.

Written by Philip Roy | 07 June 2003
Posted in Site News

Moving files rather than copying them across disks

Traditionally, when you drag a file from one disk to another (or from one partition to another) the file gets copied to the new location and the original; remains where it is. This is frustrating at times, because when you want to move the file, you have to copy it across and then delete the original.

Instead, under OSX, there is a way to "move" a file rather than "copy" it. Simply hold the 'Command' (or 'Apple') key down before you click and drag the file to its new location. This will cause the file to be moved from one disk to the other and the file will disappear from its starting location.

"fsck -"-ing your disk

OSX has a hidden repair tool that you may or may not know about. It means that you can run a First Aid program as the computer starts up, without the usual problem you have of not being able to run a First Aid program from the boot machine.

In order to run this check/repair, you need to restart or your machine.

Immediately as the computer starts up, hold down the Command (Apple) and 'S' key.

You'll see a lot of text appear (don't worry, it's just Unix stuff) and then you'll end up at a prompt.

At this point, type in the following line:

fsck -y

When you press return, the computer will go though and report any problems and (usually) try to fix them. If there are problems, use the command again and again, until you see the comment ...

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****

That's it. To get the computer to startup properly, type in the following line...

reboot

and press return. This will get the computer starting up and on its merry way.

Hiding the Internet Explorer toolbar

If you want to view a web page in all its glory (using Internet Explorer) without the fuss of the toolbar being at the top of the browser window, just quickly use the key combination 'Command-B' (or you might know it as 'Apple-B'). This hides the toolbar quickly and pressing 'Command-B' again will bring it back.